Biblically Speaking
Many of you asked for me to provide the information from my session of Practically Speaking, so here it is. I would like to begin by saying that all the concepts, methods, and ideas contained in this post are not original to me. I am standing on the shoulders of many others, all of whom I greatly admire and respect. If you would like a copy of the complete handout, send me a message with your email address. You can find the books and materials that I used to put together my session listed at the end of this blog. 

Let me start by telling you who I am. I am first and foremost a sinner saved by grace. I would not be able to put this together without Jesus in my life and the Holy Spirit's help! I am a wife to Aaron, a mother to Caden (4) and Brynna (2), a daughter, a sister, a friend, and an employee. 

Now, let me tell you who I am not. I am not a Bible scholar. I did not attend seminary and I have little training in this area.

I started studying inductively when Caden was four months old. 

Did you catch that? 

FOUR MONTHS OLD! 

It was crazy time in my life. I had recently started working from home and I had my first child. What was I thinking taking on this challenge? Well, I thought the same thing many times during that first study but God used it to show me that His Word truly is alive and active and that ember turned into a flame and that flame into a full-blown burning fire for His Word. 

I start there because I want you all to find encouragement in it. Learning to really dig into God's Word is a process. Finding a system that works for you in your current life stage is important but please, please find one. Studying the Bible is vitally important for you, your family, and the church. We need more godly women willing to step out in faith, live boldly, love godly men, raise godly children, and proclaim the Gospel through their unique gifting.

DIGGING DEEPER
So, why should you study the Bible? Why should you go deeper?

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
1 Timothy 3:16-17

People come to Scripture for many reasons. We each bring our own perspectives, experiences, church background, etc. We each approach Scripture study colored by those experiences. Some are good and some are not. We need to establish the reason for Bible study before our study can really be transformative. I believe there is one primary reason for studying the Bible - to know God!

We must enter our study not with a me-centered perspective but with a God-centered one. We must be looking for what God is revealing about Himself before we can think about what He might be saying to us. 

Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples but before we go and make them, we must first become them. We must learn from and pattern our lives after the One who is sending.

Scripture also tell us to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Luke 10:27).  In the words of Jen Wilkin, "your heart cannot love what your mind does not know." 

 Isn't this true in other relationships? 

 Doesn't our love for our husband grow over time? Shared experiences, emotional intimacy and transparency deepen your understanding of him, your disagreements shed light on personality and all of these things add to your knowledge of this man. Doesn't that knowledge deepen your love for him? 

 What about your children? Don't you love them much more today than you did the day they were born? Watching them grow, learn new things, master skills like walking or talking, helping them navigate friendship and conflict - these again add to our understanding of the person standing before us. And doesn't that make you love them?

The same is true with God. We build relationship by reading His words to us, wrestling with the ones we don't understand, crying out for help to become the things He has asked of us. Reading what He has said about Himself spurs on other disciplines of the faith like prayer and worship and all those things combined add to our relationship with Him. They cause us to love Him more.

And lastly, we must be ready for troubles, trails, hardships, and deceptions. Scripture is clear that we will experience these things and we must be ready. We must prepare ourselves to combat the lies we will hear whispered to us during those times.

THE BIGGER PICTURE
How does this book or passage fit into the bigger picture of God's Word?
“We know when we are seeing something beautiful in the pages of Scripture, but we don’t always know how what we are seeing fits with the rest of the story...The idea of a bigger story explaining smaller stories.”

 Jen Wilkin

In order to understand a book, passage, or story within Scripture, we must first understand how what we are reading fits into the Bible as a whole. And the only way we can really do this is to first understand that the Bible is not just a collection of smaller books but a bigger book with a larger story. That story is one of creation, the fall of that creation, the redemption of creation, and finally the restoration of that creation. This story is told from Genesis to Revelation but it is also told within each of the 66 individual books from their unique historical and cultural perspective.

To fully appreciate each book, we must know its historical and cultural perspective. We can dig into that perceptive by answering a few questions:

(quick tip: Need help remembering this - the 5 Ws and an H - who, what, where, when, why & how)

Depending on the book you are studying, you can find most of these answers contained in the book itself but the answers can also easily be found on the introduction page to that book in most study Bibles. Commentaries are also good sources for historical and cultural information but I'd suggest you wait to use these later on (more on that in a bit).
COMPREHENSION
What does this book or passage say?

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.
He will not fail you or leave you.
1 Chronicles 28:20

Remember taking the college prep tests - the ones that asked you to read a passage and then tested you to see if you could accurately recall the details? Well, we aren't going to be tested on our text but we do want to know it well enough that we can recall the truths it contains in the moments our hearts and minds need it most. Below is a list of tools that we will use during our comprehension phase:

So now that you have all your supplies, we are ready to dive in. We want to begin by reading our text repetitively. This is important because it increases our familiarity with the passage. I like to read a chapter over and over, but that maybe too much or not enough for you. Feel free to read repetitively how it suits you best - that may be a chapter, a few verses, or the whole book. I also like to read aloud because I'm a auditory processor. As you read, you will begin to see things stand out like a word or phrase that is repeated, a list or a comparison. You start to see things you wouldn't see if you only read it once. Also, feel free to read your passage in other translations to help you understand what is being said.

Next, we are going to start marking our printed copy. We are going to begin looking for and marking the things that stand out to us. Here are some ideas do what to look for:

I like to make lists of the things I'm finding. For instance, I will make a list of all the places I see a repeated word or a list emerging. It might look something like this from James:

Verses About Not Straying or 

Things About God from James 1 Another great thing to do during this phase is to work on outlining the chapters. Look for the main points and then the sub-points that support those. This step does not need to be exhaustive. You can certainly come back to it later but it does help us recognize the structure and purpose of the text.
INTERPRETATION
What does it mean?

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
James 1:5

After we have a good grasp on what the text says we can move on to what does it mean? We now move beyond our original passage. We do this in three ways.

First, we look at other passages that are cross-referenced in our Bible. Cross-references can be found in the margin of most Bibles. Look up these passages and note how they add to your understanding. Mark what you find on your printed text or in your journal.

Next, begin to think about how you would put the passage in your own words. Paraphrasing helps us clarify confusing passages and solidify the ones that we already know.

Now, consult trusted commentaries. Don't know where to start with commentaries? Ask someone you trust…a pastor, friend, or Bible Study teacher.  You can also find free resources online or can purchase commentaries on a single book rather than the entire Bible (this helps the budget).

A few things to remember when interpreting Scripture:
APPLICATION
How does this change me?

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2-3

We should now know what our book or passage says, we have formed our own thoughts on it's meaning, and we've look at what others have to say about it. Now, we are ready to think about how it should begin to change us. This may be the simplest part to answer but it is by far the hardest to implement. Start by asking yourself a few questions, answering them in written form to help commit them into your mind and heart.

Wow! I know that was long! And, to be honest, this process is long. This should take you several weeks to do for an entire book. Larger books will obviously take you longer to go through the whole process. 

I also find that I get the most out of my study when I do it with others. I personally need the accountability and I love hearing the perspectives of others. Other women can bring light on passages I struggle with and can help me see things I didn't catch. 

I hope you found this helpful! Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have or if you'd like a copy of the original handout.


All information contained here is compiled from the following sources:
How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur
Precept Leader Training by Precept Ministries
Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin